


One Day or Another

by Lobelia321



Category: One Direction
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-23
Updated: 2013-04-23
Packaged: 2017-12-09 08:19:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/772072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lobelia321/pseuds/Lobelia321
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two boys.  Stuck between floors.<br/>ETA: This story has now been translated into Polish by the awesome panihoran / mrshoran.  Read it here on tumblr:  http://panihoran.tumblr.com/post/73822002974/one-day-or-another-tlumaczenie-pl</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Day or Another

  
**5:15 pm**  
" _Elevator doors closing.  Going up._ "

Louis and Harry squeezed through the doors just in time.  

"Phew," said Louis and dusted off his right shoulder.

"Man," said Harry and slumped against the mirrored wall.  He was still panting from the race.

"I got in first, though, didn't I?" said Louis and dusted off the other shoulder.

"Did you?"  Harry wagged a hand through his hair.  "Not so sure about that."

" _Second floor._ "  The electronic voice was female, with an American accent and an impassive lilt.

"It was 'first to hit the button'.  And I hit it first."

"No, it wasn't.  It was..."  Harry stretched his mouth.  "...something else."

" _Third floor_ ."

"Third floor," imitated Louis, pronouncing his 'r's in the manner of the recording.

Harry turned around and shook his hair at the mirror.  He made a frowny face, then a sad face, then a happy-snappy face.

" _Fourth floor._ "

"Fourth floor," mimicked Louis.  And again, "fourrrth floorrr."

Harry grinned.

_PING_ , went the lift.

" _Fifth floor.  Doors opening_ ," intoned the voice.

The lift bounced to a halt.  Hydraulics swished.  The doors slid smoothly open.

A man stepped in, and Louis and Harry crowded into the left corner of the space.  

The man wore a suit and a red tie, and he carried a faux-leather laptop case.  There was a bald spot at the back of his head that was sunburnt pink.  Louis and Harry had ample time to study the back of the man's head as he stood motionless, face towards the doors.

" _Doors closing.  Going up._ " 

"Doors closing, going up," Louis mouthed at Harry.

Harry stifled a giggle.

" _Sixth floor_ ."

"Sixth floor," mouthed Louis as the man's hand shot out and a finger landed on the '8'.

Louis arched his eyebrows at Harry.  Harry sucked in his lips and looked up at the ceiling lights.

"Seventh floor," muttered Louis under his breath, and Harry, although his eyes were fixed on the white fluorescent squares above him, had to snort.

The man shifted on his feet.

" _Seventh floor_ ", said the elevator voice.

"Eighth..." began Louis but Harry interrupted, "Lou?  What floor are we on?"

Louis stopped mid-flow.  "Oh," he said.  "Good question."

"Did you not even press a floor?" said Harry and had to start laughing outright.

"Why me?  You got in here first."

"Ah, you admit it, I was first."

They were now shoving at each other, Louis' right hand nudging at Harry's left sleeve, Harry's right hand reaching across his body to push at Louis' waist.  The man shuffled further towards the opposite corner.  There wasn't all that much further to shuffle; it was a pretty small lift cab.

_PING._

" _Ninth floor.  Doors opening_ ."

The lift bounced, the doors swished, the man stepped out.  For a while, nothing happened.  The man moved off; just as he rounded the corner, he shot them a backward glance.

" _Doors closing.  Going up._ "

"What floor do I press?" said Louis.

"Do you think that man recognised us?" said Harry.

"Why?  Did you fancy him?" said Louis, scrabbling round in his pockets for the key card.

"Shut up," said Harry good-naturedly and pressed the '11'.

"Eleven?" said Louis.  "Are you sure?"  He pulled forth a key card and peered at it.  "Can you read this?  Where on this thing does it say the floor?"

"Probably doesn't," Harry said.  "Probably, like, security reasons."

"Then how do we know where we have to get out?"

Harry shrugged.  "It's eleventh.  I'm sure."

"You're sure?"

"Pretty sure."

"Eleventh floorrr," said Louis and waggled his eyebrows, Marlene-Dietrich style.  "Eleventh floorrr.  Going up."  He lowered his voice.  "Going _up._ Going all the way up."

"What happened to tenth floor?" said Harry.

Louis looked up and around as if he could spot the disembodied voice.  "Yeah, whatever happened to tenth floor?"  He knocked on the wall.  "Hey, you.  Tenth floor, please!"

The number lights above the doors blinked.

"What's it say?" said Louis.

"It says tenth," said Harry.  "I think."

"It says sixth, you berk.  That thing is broken."

They craned their necks and stared at the display for a while.  The light hopped from '6' to '7' to '8' to '7' to '6' and back to '7'.

"Shit," said Louis.

"Are we still moving?" said Harry.

"Did you hear it say 'tenth floor'?" said Louis.

"Are we stuck?" said Harry, unbelievingly.

"Tenth floor," Louis said in an authoritative voice to the lift door.  " _Tenth floor_ ."

There was a slight swaying motion, then nothing.

"If we are stuck," said Harry, "shouldn't there have been a jolt or something?"

"We're not stuck," said Louis.

 

**5:25 pm**  
"Shit," said Louis, "I think we're stuck."

"Right," said Harry.  "Okay, what do we do?"  He pressed buttons at random:  10, 5, 1, G.

"No, no, you've got to ring the emergency."

"Okay.  Which one's that?"

They gathered round the display panel in the left-hand corner, next to the door.  There were two rows of numbered buttons, a speaker grille, some instructions in braille, two screws holding down a non-existent plate that must have fallen off at some point, the phrase 'Schindler 500A', and two further buttons.  One was marked DOORS, the other was marked EMERGENCY.  It was a bit like Alice in Wonderland:  which to choose?

Louis chose EMERGENCY.

They stared expectantly at the speaker grille.

Louis pressed EMERGENCY once again.  He crouched down and brought his mouth close to the grille.  "Hello," he said.  "Hello."

Harry chose DOORS.  There was a slight jolt, and Harry snatched his hand away.

Louis grabbed Harry's sleeve.  "What was that?"

"I don't know."

"Don't press that button, Harry.  That's not a good button to press.  Hello!  Hello!!"  Louis yelled into the speaker and hit EMERGENCY in syncopated rhythm.  "Heee-llllo!  He _llo_ !  Hello?"

"I'll give Zayn a ring," said Harry and reached into the front right-hand pocket of his jeans.  He looked down at his phone.  "Shit."

 

**5:35 pm**  
"Maybe if we move it further up?"

"What, like under the ceiling?"

"If I lift you up?  Here, just..."  Louis positioned himself behind Harry, wrapped his arms around him from the back, braced his feet and lifted.  "Anything?"

Harry's voice sounded strained, his lungs compressed.  He had his arms above his head.  "No," he said, "still nothing."  He had a phone in each hand and peered from one to the other.  "Not yours either.  Not even one single bar."

"Shit," said Louis and let go.  Harry tumbled to the floor and banged his forehead on the mirror.  Two phones skittered against the wall with a metallic _thunk_ .

"Ow," said Harry, "don't just dump me."

"What do we do now?" said Louis.

"That hurt," said Harry.  He put his face up close to the mirror and rubbed his forehead.

"Hello?" said Louis into the grille.

 

**5:40 pm**  
"Well, maybe they can hear us but we can't hear them," said Harry.  "They're probably on their way."

"Sh," said Louis.  "Was that something?"

They both stood stock still.  The air conditioning hummed.

Louis' shoulders slumped.  "No.  Check your phone again.  Maybe we've got reception now?"

"If they can hear us and we can't hear them," said Harry, "we could say all sorts of things."

"How much air do you think is in here?" said Louis.

"Air?  We're not in outer space, Lou.  There's air everywhere."

Louis banged on the door.  "Hello, hello, hello, help."

Harry watched for a while then he joined in with the banging and yelling.

 

**5:45 pm**  
Harry slid down to the floor.  He picked up his phone and turned it off, waited, turned it back on.  Still no reception.

He picked up Louis' phone, fiddled to find the off-switch, turned it off, waited, turned it back on.  Louis had his palms pressed against the door and his mouth pressed against the slit between the two door panels.  "Hello!" he yelled.  "Help!  We're stuck!  Hello!"

"Lou," said Harry.  "Louis.  You're not claustrophobic, are you?"

Louis turned round and looked at Harry.  "No," he said.  He pressed EMERGENCY five times in a row.  "How long do you think it'll take them?"

Harry shrugged.  "Ten minutes?"

 

**5:55 pm**  
"Has it been ten minutes?"

Harry shrugged.  "Maybe it'll take them fifteen?"

Louis looked at his phone.  "5.55," he said.  "Where are the others?  When will they be back?  When will they notice we're not there?  When were we supposed to meet up for dinner?"

"Dinner," said Harry.

"What if they don't find us till after dinner?  Have you got anything to eat on you?"

 

**6:00 pm**  
Harry turned out his pockets:  one phone, one key card, one crumpled-up ticket to Alligator World, one length of string, one flat tin with mini-mints (remaining mints:  three), one small plastic tube torn off the end of a shoe lace.

Louis stared at the three mints.  "We'll have to draw lots for the third one," he said.

"No, we can totally share this."  Harry took the tiny mint, carefully positioned it between his front teeth and bit down.  The thing split into about seventeen pieces.  Harry spluttered.  Louis let out a sharp giggle.

"Okay, okay," Harry said, except it didn't come out like that because he was trying to gather in the mint debris with his tongue.  The words sounded more like 'o-eh, o-eh'.  And then 'ear' which was really 'here' and meant, 'come on, take your share of the mint.'

Louis stared at the white crumbs clinging to the tip of Harry's tongue.

"Huh," said Harry and shoved his tongue at Louis.

"No."  Louis pulled a face.  "Gross."

Harry gathered in his tongue and licked his lips.  "You should have gone for that," he said.  "That was, like, major nourishment."

Louis looked at Harry's lips.  "You're mental," he said.

 

**6:05 pm**  
Louis turned out his pockets:  one phone, one key card, one black button (four holes), one length of small-linked chain, one eraser ripped off the end of a pencil, a wad of dollars.

Louis stared glumly at the loot.  "Not even one jelly baby."

 

**6:15 pm**  
"Hello?  Hello!  Help!  _Help help help!_ " Louis yelled through the slit between the doors.  He turned to Harry.  "Do we have something flat?  Something we could shove through this opening?"

"Why?"

"Just to see.  For leverage or something.  To signal."  Louis dug through his pocket but the same six items came to light.  He turned the key card over in his hand.  Then he poked it into the slot.  He moved it up and down.

Harry watched.

Louis jiggled the card.  "This is pointless," he said.

"You'd think there'd be a camera in here at least," said Harry.

"Oh shit," said Louis.  "I've lost the card."

 

**6:20 pm**  
Harry sat on the floor, in the corner opposite the panel with the buttons.  He pushed up his knees and rested his phone against his thighs.

"How long's it been?" said Louis.  

"I don't know.  Half an hour?"

"No," said Louis and looked at his own phone.  "It's basically been an hour.  _An hour_ ."

Harry was intent on his display.  His thumbs stabbed at the keys in quick succession.

"Where are the fans when you need them?" said Louis.  He put his mouth against the door slot.  "Fans!  Hey, _fans!_ You guys!  Come and rescue us!"  He waited.  Nothing.  He turned round.  "This is seriously long."  He slumped onto the floor next to Harry.  "What are you playing?" he asked.

 

**6:25 pm**  
"One, two, three, go."

They both tapped their screens to start play.  Harry had the phone angled up on his knees.  Louis sat with his left leg up and his right leg loosely leaning against Harry's knee; his tongue was in the left corner of his mouth as his fingers swiped across the screen.

_Ting ting ting_ , went two streams of electronic music.

 

**6:35 pm**  
"Right, how many did you get?"

Harry peered at the display.  "Five thousand three hundred and twenty."

Louis guffawed.  "Lame.  I got seven thousand one hundred and five."

"Seven thousand what?  That's sick, man.  Let's see."  Harry leaned over but Louis tapped the screen and said, 

"Whoops."

"You dick."  Harry pummelled Louis' right upper arm with both fists.  The phone clattered to the ground.  "You cheated."

"I did not."  Louis giggled and fell over sideways.  Harry went on pummelling; Louis kicked air and fended off the blows; Harry fell on top of Louis and pinned his left hand back; Louis continued to fend with his other hand; Harry snorted; Louis batted at Harry's face; Harry rolled off Louis and landed flat on his back.

 

**6:40 pm**  
"Revenge round?" said Harry.

 

**6:50 pm**  
"How many did you get?"

"You show me your screen first."

Louis giggled.  "No, show me yours."  He grabbed at Harry's phone. 

But Harry jerked it away and held it behind his back.

Louis grabbed at the phone by reaching round Harry's body with his arm.

Harry twisted both his arms, transferred the phone from one hand to the other, rolled to the side, got caught on the waist by Louis, plumped onto his stomach and trapped the phone beneath his belly, let out puffs of breath as Louis straddled his back, and then his thighs, and then threw himself down along the length of Harry and wormed his hands underneath Harry's waist.

"No," wheezed Harry, "no, that tickles.  Stop it."

Louis curled his fingers up and crawled them along Harry's shirt.  

Harry burst into giggles.  "No, get off me.  No."

Louis squeezed Harry's waist.

 

**6:54 pm**  
"I think the screen's cracked," said Harry and peered at his phone.  

"Does this game eat up a lot of battery?" said Louis.  He tilted his own phone back and forth.  "Because my light's going dim.  And my counter's on red."

"Well, turn it off then."

"Turning it off and on eats up more juice than just leaving it on."

"Well, leave it on then."

 

**7:00 pm**  
"The screen's not really cracked," said Harry.  "I mean, it was cracked before.  I dropped it, the other day.  In the loo, on the tiles."

Louis squinted at Harry's screen.  "Seven o'clock," he said.  "Seven o'clock!  That's, like, two hours!"  He jumped up and attacked the EMERGENCY button with both index fingers alternately.  With twisted neck and torso he brought his mouth close to the grille:  "Hello?  Is anybody out there?  We are stuck in this lift!  Hellooo-ooo!"

 

**7:05 pm**  
"What time's dinner?"

"How should I know?  Eight?"

"Won't people miss us then?"

"For sure."

"Why aren't people missing us right now?"

"Didn't you say..." Harry began.

"What?  O god," Louis said.  He rubbed the back of his neck rapidly with his left palm.  "What did I say?"

"Didn't you say..."  Harry's voice was tentative.  "...that you were going to have an early night and didn't want to be disturbed? And then..."

"And then you were all like, yeah, that sounds good to me."  Louis rubbed his left cheek rapidly with his left palm.

Harry leaned back.  His head went _clunk_ against the wall.  "They think we've gone to bed."

"Don't be daft.  Nobody goes to bed at five."

"Zayn sometimes does."

"Zayn!" cried Louis and flapped his left hand helplessly.  He bent down to the grille again.  "Zayn!  You daft bugger.  Get us out of here!"

"I'm a celebrity," said Harry.  "Get me out of here."  And rolled onto his side, laughing.

Louis stared at him for a split second, then burst into a short laugh himself.

His phone, prostrate in the corner, emitted a whining _eeeep_ sound.  

Louis scooted to his knees and scooped it up.  "Shit," he said.  "Battery's dead."

 

**7:12 pm**  
"It doesn't matter," Harry said.  "We can't ring anyone anyway."

Louis continued to shake his phone up and down.

"Lou," Harry said.  He put his hand on Louis' knee.  "It's not an empty shampoo bottle."

"A what?" Louis stopped shaking the phone.

"Shampoo bottle.  You know, when you're trying to get the last drops out?"

"You _shake_ the bottle?  Harry, you need to _squeeze_ the bottle."

"Squeeze the bottle?"

"Yes, turn it upside down and squeeze the end.  If you shake it... Shaking's for orange juice."

"Shaking," said Harry slowly.  "Isn't that, like, a James Bond thing?  Shaking not stirring?"

"Shaken not stirred," said Louis.  "Shaken!  Not stirred!"  

"Remember that hotel in where was it again?  Mexico?  No, Nashville.  It was in Nashville.  With the, you know, the glass lifts?"

"Oh yeah."  Louis sighed.  "Why can't every hotel have see-through lifts?"

 

**7:16 pm**  
Harry sat in the corner, cradling his phone against his knees.

Louis slumped next to him, almost horizontal on the floor, left leg stretched out, foot rhythmically poking at the door, right knee flopped against Harry's leg.

Harry dialled Zayn's number.  He dialled Liam's number.  Then he dialled Niall's number, Paul the security guard's number, his mum's number, Liam's mum's number, and the number of Kevin Paul's tattoo parlour in Derby.

The display stubbornly continued to show no bars.

"Do you think there was something dodgy about that man?" Louis said suddenly.  "Do you think this was on purpose?  Like a sort of kidnapping?"

Harry twisted to look at Louis.  "D'you want a mint?"

 

**7:20 pm**  
"Shouldn't we save them for later?"

"We're not going to be in here that long," said Harry.  "Here, which one d'you want?"  He held out two fists.

"Hm."  Louis looked from left to right.  Then he tapped Harry's left hand.

"Okay, open your mouth."

"Open your hand."

"No, you open your mouth."

Louis smirked at Harry and opened his mouth wide.

"Which one lasts longest," said Harry.  He popped one mint into his mouth and pressed his left palm against Louis' lips.  Louis had to poke out his tongue and fish the mint from where it stuck to Harry's skin.  The mint tasted of menthol and sweat.

 

**7:23 pm**  
"Have you still got yours?"

"Yeah."

"Show me," said Harry.

Louis pushed out his tongue.  Harry inspected the fleck of white.

"Where's yours?" said Louis.

"In my mouth."

Louis looked at Harry.  He rubbed his left sleeve and then, without warning, pounced, grabbed Harry's chin and forced open Harry's mouth.  Harry clamped his lips shut; Louis worked his forefinger in between them; Harry spluttered; Louis said, "It's totally not there, you liar; I win."

 

**7:25 pm**  
"What about water?" said Louis.  "We haven't got anything to drink."

"We'll have to drink our own pee, " Harry said darkly.

"Don't say that," said Louis and scrambled to an upright sitting position.  "I really need to do a wee."

"No," said Harry.

"No, I really do."

"It's not just because I've said it?"

"I really need to go."  Louis hopped up and started jiggling round the cubicle.  "This is terrible."

"If we had a bottle--" Harry started, but Louis yelled,

"But we don't!  Have a bottle!"  He bounced up and down.  The carriage swayed slightly.  He put his hand on the slit between the doors.  "I wonder if I could pee through here."

"There might be cables?  You could electrocute yourself."

"Don't be a bell-end, Harry."  Louis shoved his hands deep into his jeans pocket.  The pockets bulged at the seams.  He did small hippety-hoppety movements.

"You're dancing," said Harry.  

"How long's it been?" said Louis.

Harry scrambled to his feet.  He shoved the mobile into his jacket pocket.

"Don't worry, we're going to get rescued.  If not today, then tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Louis' voice croaked into overdrive.  "It's got to be today.  It can't be one day and not another."

"Hey, that sounds like our song," said Harry and swayed his hips.

"It's been, like, _hours_ ."

Harry started humming a tune, lifting his arms, flamenco-style, treading air on the spot.

Louis crossed his legs.

"One day and not another," hummed Harry.  He threw himself into a pirouette so dynamically that he overbalanced and fell against Louis, tripped backwards, righted himself, shook his hair and laughed.

 

**7:30 pm**  
Harry and Louis sang "One way or another" at each other.  Harry swiped his arms up and down, piston-style.  "I'm gonna getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha."  Louis did duck-wing movements with his elbows, and then started high kicks to the left and to the right.  Harry followed suit.  Their trainers slammed into the walls.  Louis changed the lyrics:  "One day and not another, they're gonna find us, they're gonna get us, get us, get us, get us..."  "Out of here," finished Harry and shook his head in windmill circles.

There was a fizzing sound, the lights flickered, they didn't notice, then the lights died and went out. 

The lift plunged into darkness.

Louis screamed and clutched onto whatever he could find of Harry.

Harry lost balance.  They crashed to the floor.

Nothing moved.  The only sound was that of harsh breaths, moving in and out of two open mouths.

"What was that?" hissed Louis.  

"I don't know," said Harry.  He gave a rough cough.

They breathed in and out.  Blackness pressed against their open eyeballs.

"Fuck," said Louis.

 

**7:35 pm**  
There was a small voice; it was Louis'.  "Is your phone still working?"

Fabric rubbed against fabric.  Harry patted his pockets.

The phone glowed dully in the darkness.  A ghostly glow lit up Harry's face.  

Harry lifted the phone and pointed it round the lift.  A dim blurry circle hit the display panel, the row of number buttons, the EMERGENCY and the DOORS buttons, the metal on the walls, the mirror behind, the light panels in the ceiling, the slit in the door, Louis' abandoned phone in one corner, Louis' knee (shaking), Louis' other knee (jiggling up and down), Louis' face (eyes bright, brows high, lips set in a determined grin).

"It's all right, you know," said Harry.

"I know," said Louis' bright voice.

"Maybe they're starting to rescue us.  And had to cut through some wire or something."

"Yeah," said Louis.

 

**7:40 pm**  
They were crouched in the corner, opposite the numbers panel.  Harry had slumped a little.  Louis sat bolt upright so that Harry's head came to rest against the top of Louis' right arm.  Harry held his phone against his knees.  Louis had his hand on Harry's leg, near the phone.

The phone went into sleep mode.  They were again pitched into darkness.

Harry's hand twitched but Louis said, "Leave it.  We should probably save the energy.  Also, I still need to pee."

"Not really?"

"Worse than ever," said Louis.

"You'll be all right," said Harry.  "Just stop thinking about it.  Just don't think about..."  He paused.  "...waterfalls."  He started chortling uncontrollably.

"Harry, you wanker," said Louis.  "I'm gonna wee myself because of you."

"You know what's good against needing to pee?" said Harry and stopped chuckling for a moment.

"No, what?"

"You know when you wake up sometimes in the morning?  And you really need to go and have a pee?  But, like, you can't.  Because-- "

"Oh no," said Louis.

"Because you've got..."

"Morning wood!" chimed in Louis, at the same time as Harry said, "A boner!"

They burst into giggles.  Then Louis' giggle turned into a hiccup.

"Because, like, you could totally..."

"Harry, you're not helping here."

But Harry was laughing so hard now that his feet drummed the floor in mirth.  "No, really, it would totally work.  All you need to do is..."

Louis hiccuped again.

"I could help out," Harry said.  "I can lend a helping hand."  He cracked up anew.  "Helping hand?  Get it?"

Louis' hiccup turned into a snorted giggle.

Harry shook with hilarity.  "Helping hand," he repeated breathlessly.  "Like this."  In the dark, Harry's hand groped for Louis, slithered up Louis' legs, found his crotch, did one hard swipe along its width, and darted away again.

"Hey," yelped Louis.  Harry was shaking with laughter against Louis' shoulder, laughing so hard it ended up in a coughing fit.

"You nob," Louis said, "you absolute--", and stopped.

"Well, did it work?" said Harry when he'd stopped laughing long enough to speak.  "Ah, I wish I could have seen your face, man."  There was the sound of Harry patting the floor.  "Where'd my phone go?"

After a while, Louis said, in a thin, high voice, "It did work.  Just for the record."

Harry stopped patting.  "No way."

"Yes way.  You total dick.  Reflex reaction.  Or something."

Harry giggled, then stopped and coughed.  "Right," he said.  "Good."

They shifted against each other in the dark.

 

**7:50 pm**  
"You know what," said Harry.  "I've got one, too, now."

"Come on, I don't believe you.  You're taking the piss."

"I'm not.  Look.  No, you can't look.  Here, feel."

"I'm not--" began Louis but Harry's hand hunted around for Louis' hand, hauled it across Harry's legs and pressed it onto Harry's crotch.

"See?" Harry said.  His breath hitched on the 'ee'.

"Okay," Louis said.  His voice cracked on the 'ay'.

 

**7:52 pm**  
Louis squeezed.

Harry gasped and laughed.

 

**7:53 pm**  
Louis squeezed again.

Harry stopped laughing.

 

**7:53:07 pm**  
Louis squeezed once more.

"Okay, okay," said Harry, his voice pressed tight.  "Stop now."

Louis didn't stop.

Harry's breath sounded as if he had his cheeks puffed out and his lips pressed together and his nostrils flared with effort.

Louis crooked his fingers and slid one down on either side of Harry's erection, through the denim, index finger on the right, middle finger on the left, thumb underneath

"Seriously, Lou, I mean it.  You've got to stop."

"Why?"  Louis brought his mouth close to where he assumed Harry's ear to be in the dark.  "Because..."  He lowered his voice.  "... you're gonna come?" 

Harry shuddered.

"Well, in that case, perhaps I'd better..." muttered Louis.  He climbed across Harry, straddled Harry's thighs, fumbled with belt buckle and zip, dragged at waistband and denim, wormed his hand in and took Harry's cock out through the slit in his boxers.

Harry gave a startled gasp.  

Louis' naked fist closed around Harry's damp naked cock.

If Harry had his eyes closed, it made no difference.  Huffs of breath escaped through his closed mouth.

Louis braced himself with one hand against Harry's hip, the other giving another concentrated squeeze and slide around Harry's cock.

Harry panted open-mouthed, breaths loud in the black space, and came.

His head thudded against the wall.

Silent moments passed.  Louis slid his left hand up to Harry's chest.  

Harry's breaths came thick and heavy.

"I can feel your heart," said Louis.

Harry's voice wobbled. "You daft git.  I warned you."

"Wish I could have seen your face," Louis said and giggled, a short high giggle.

" Did it all go on your hand?"

"Nah, only a bit.  Most of it's on your shirt."

"Oh no, not really."  Harry touched a hand to his belly.  "Now I've got it on _my_ hand."

"We need to mop up with something."

"With what?  We haven't got any tissues."

"We can use..."  Short pause.  "We can use your scarf."

"My scarf?"

"Yeah."  Louis was already unwinding it, getting the ends tangled in Harry's hair.  "It's not very absorbent but whatever."  He scrunched up the scarf and dabbed at Harry's shirt, wiped his own hands.

Harry breathed in, breathed out.  "I'm whacked," he said.

Louis stopped wiping.  He felt for Harry's chin, fitted his left hand around Harry's jaw and squeezed his cheeks until they bulged around Harry's lips.  "You're cute when you've just come," he said, leant forwards and planted a kiss full on Harry's mouth.

"Oi," said Harry.  "What's that for?"

"Nothing," said Louis.

Harry was quiet.  Then he said, "What about you then?"

"What about me?"  But Louis' voice squeaked on the 'e'.

Harry, quick as a mouse, darted out his right hand.  It landed somewhere on Louis' torso but Harry slid it down and across Louis' waistband and onto his crotch.  "You still don't need to pee then," he grinned.

"You don't--" began Louis, but, "I do", said Harry and unbuttoned Louis' fly.  "I think I do," and tugged at the zipper, grappled with the jeans, Louis' hands getting in the way, and then a dick sprang into Harry's hand.

He hesitated one instant.  Then he wrapped his fingers around it.  The skin was smooth and hot.

Louis made a choked sound.

"Like this?" said Harry, in a husky voice.  He twisted his fist up and down Louis' dick, a bit awkwardly, losing his rhythm on every second twist but it didn't seem to matter because Louis didn't say anything, just hissed through his teeth while his thighs shivered against Harry's legs.

Harry tugged Louis' foreskin down a little on the next twist; he felt it slither along the head.

"Oh," said Louis.  His hand clawed at Harry's thigh.

Harry twisted and tugged.  His rhythm was shot; his right hand kept slipping; he used his left hand to steady himself and then his thumb slipped underneath Louis' balls.

Louis hissed, as if in pain.  His fingers dug into Harry's flesh.  His abdomen pulsed against Harry's knuckles.

Harry tried to keep going.

"No," mumbled Louis, "stop.  Stop."

Harry stopped.  

Louis' breath was all over the place.

"Did you come?" whispered Harry.

Louis slumped forwards.  "Yes.  Fuck, yes."

"I wasn't sure," said Harry.  "Where's it gone?"  He moved his hand.  "Oh."  And chortled.  

"What?"

"It's right up on my neck.  You shot your load all the way up to my _neck_ , man."

"No way."

"Here," and Harry grasped Louis' hand and pressed Louis' fingers into the skin between his collar and throat, into the moisture pooling in the clavicular hollow, and laughed, and Louis laughed too, and then Louis kissed Harry again, this time with tongue.

The light fizzed and flickered.

Louis and Harry had their eyes closed and didn't react.

The lift rocked.  Louis' teeth knocked against Harry's.

"Shit," yelped Louis and grabbed Harry's shoulder.  

Their eyes flew open. The light sputtered and came on in fits and bursts.

"What the--" said Harry.

There was a banging sound and voices, many voices from outside the doors.  American voices.  " _Boys?  Are you in there?  Are you okay?_ "

Louis stared at Harry, wide-eyed.  Harry stared at Louis.  They blinked and blushed, suddenly visible.

" _Boys?  Louis?  Harry?_ "

"Shit," muttered Louis and started doing up his fly, grabbed for the scarf, frantically dabbed at Harry's neck, tugged and pulled at Harry's belt.  Harry struggled to sit upright; he pushed his hands through his hair.

" _Boys?  Are you okay in there?  We'll have you out in just a minute._ "  Something that sounded like an electric saw started whining loudly.

"Yeah," said Louis.

"We're all right!" yelled Harry.

They looked at one another.

"Couldn't they have waited a little bit?" said Louis.  "The timing's all wrong."

"You taste of mint," said Harry.

Louis cocked his head.  "You know," he said, "Remember how I dropped my key card down the lift shaft.  The card for my room."

They had to shout now, above the clang of the machine.

"You can stay over at mine," said Harry, quickly.  "I've got a... big bed."

Louis brought his mouth close to Harry's.  "We don't need a big bed."  He leant back, watched Harry's blush deepen, leant forward again.  "But next time," he said, "let's keep the lights on."

"Why?" mouthed Harry.

"Because," said Louis.

There was a loud wrenching noise.  A metal implement forced its way in between the doors, through the slit.  Dust rose in puffs.  Harry coughed.

"Because next time," said Louis and smiled, "next time, I want to see your face."

 

**8:15 pm**  
The door burst open.   A bright white spot light blasted into the lift, blinding them, and casting out all shadows from the nooks and the crannies of three lost hours.

~~~

**The end**  
Posted 23 April 2013  
All original bits © Lobelia321.  
Permalink to LJ:  <http://lobelia321.livejournal.com/813802.html> Permalink to A03: <http://archiveofourown.org/works/772072>

**Author's Note:**

>  **Title:** One Day or Another  
>  **Author:** Lobelia; [](http://lobelia321.livejournal.com/profile)[**lobelia321**](http://lobelia321.livejournal.com/)  
>  **Fandom:** One Direction  
>  **Pairings** : Louis Tomlinson / Harry Styles  
>  **Spoilers:** Um.  Does not apply to rps?  
>  **Rating:** Mature.  
>  **Warning:** Popslash.  Rps.  Very Young Persons.  
>  **Length of fic** :  c. 5,500 words.  
>  **Length of Header:** What can I say?  I love long Headers.  
>  **Date posted:** Tues 23 April 2013  
>  **Category:** Elevator fic.  Which is closely related to [Canadian shack fic](http://fanlore.org/wiki/101_Ways_To_End_Up_In_A_Canadian_Shack).  Well, I think so, anyway.  *winks*  
>  **Style:** Past tense (because I've noticed that a lot of 1D fic is written in the present tense).  Third person.  Objective point of view (because I've noticed that most 1D fic, indeed most of any kind of fic, is written in tight subjective pov) -- aka zero focalisation (or as close as I could make it).  I can tell you it was a struggle towards the end because I just wanted to get into that boy's head so much...  
>  **Disclaimer:** I do not know any of these people.  These things never happened.  I am not making money.  This is a piece of invented amateur fiction.  
>  **Summary:** Two boys.  Stuck between floors.  
>  **Feedback:**   Yes, please!  Even if it is only one line -- one word, even!  
>  **A/N:** Something grabbed me two days before I pounced on this bunny.  What can I say?  *flails*  Fic was started on Wed, 10 April 2013.  The game they play is _Subway Surfers_.  
>  The Nashville hotel and its glass elevators feature in [this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-mnCEDuK24&list=PL42g8LFgagQp_VcaJMcJxIZYzL8aWN2a4&index=5).  
>  **Inspiration:**  
>  On youtube:  [One Direction perform 'One Way or Another / Teenage Kicks'](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AeRvsBHr1U&list=FLOiy1bgXGnftsL7XOEyYKGQ&feature=mh_lolz) at the Brit Awards 2013:   On LJ / tumblr:  [](http://zarah5.livejournal.com/profile)[**zarah5**](http://zarah5.livejournal.com/)'s [primer for 'Larry'](http://someonehaszarah5.tumblr.com/post/45674002298/one-direction-primer-part-2a-pairings-larry): 
> 
>  
> 
> **Thanks:**  
>  To [](http://zarah5.livejournal.com/profile)[**zarah5**](http://zarah5.livejournal.com/).  Who lured me into this delight.  This one's for you, darling!  And endless thanks to the wonderful [](http://viva-gloria.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://viva-gloria.livejournal.com/)**viva_gloria** for beautiful beta.
> 
>  
> 
> **Who are these people?**  
>  (For my friends who're not in the fandom. *g*)    
>  These two boys are boyband members.  They are under the age of 22.  Their band is called One Direction (1D).  They are both from the north of England.  One of them has unruly hair; he is called Harry (think John Shepherd x Harry Potter x Orlando Bloom when young).  The other one has arched eyebrows (think Draco Malfoy x Kaká x Christian from _Verbotene Liebe_ ).  For more, read [Zarah's primer](http://%20http://someonehaszarah5.tumblr.com/post/45607477518/one-direction-primer-part-1-the-band-the-boys), part 1.
> 
>  


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